On Sept. 11, 1912, the 30-year-old James Joyce received word from his would-be Irish publisher that the proofs for "Dubliners," a collection of 15 short stories he had been trying to get published for seven years, had been destroyed by "guillotining and pulping" them.

Then living in Trieste, Joyce was visiting his native Dublin when he heard this latest edition of what had become old news: Even initially willing publishers ultimately balked at printing a book that hinted at sex, insulted the Irish and took on the Catholic Church. Along with his wife and two children, Joyce left that night for Europe. He would never return to Ireland, convinced it was trying to "weary me out and if possible strangle me once and for all." | June 13, 2014»Read Full Article

Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever? By Dave Eggers. Knopf/McSweeney’s. 208 pages. $26.95.

Have questions for an astronaut and can't get him to answer your letters? You can always kidnap him, drag him to an abandoned military base near Monterey Bay, chain him to a post and threaten another jolt from your friendly Taser if he doesn't cooperate.

At least that's the approach taken by 34-year-old Thomas in Dave Eggers' new novel with a mouthful for a title: "Your Fathers, Where Are They? And the Prophets, Do They Live Forever?" | June 13, 2014»Read Full Article

It has become a commissioner and catalyst of new work as well as a presenter. And in the 2014-'15 season, its 55th, Alverno Presents will very much be a presenter about town, staging shows at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Humboldt Park and the Lynden Sculpture Garden as well as in its Alverno College home. | June 13, 2014»Read Full Article

The centennial anniversary of James Joyce's "Dubliners," published in June 1914, coincides with this year's commemoration of Bloomsday, a day celebrated by Joycean readers around the world. Joyce's novel "Ulysses," featuring middle-age Dubliner Leopold Bloom, is set on June 16, 1904 — also the date when Joyce had his first date with his future wife, Nora.

In addition to spending some quality time with "Ulysses," readers can enjoy two new books with a Bloomsian touch. | June 13, 2014»Read Full Article

Fantasy writers Mary Robinette Kowal and Katherine Addison will make a joint appearance at 3 p.m. June 22 at Boswell Book Company, 2559 N. Downer Ave. In a question-and-answer session with Milwaukee Journal Sentinel book editor Jim Higgins, Kowal and Addison will talk about their recent novels and other topics.

Kowal's new novel, "Valour and Vanity" (Tor), continues a magical series inspired by the life and writing of Jane Austen. Jane Ellsworth, Kowal's Austen-inspired heroine, lives the kind of British Regency-era life an Austen character might have — but she's also a glamourist, a professional magician who creates illusions by manipulating strands of the ether, that mysterious medium people once thought filled the air. | June 13, 2014»Read Full Article

Move over, Desdemona. You may be the most famous Shakespearean woman done in by a jealous man, but you're a lightweight compared to Queen Hermione, whose madly jealous husband, King Leontes, wrongly accuses her of sleeping with his best friend, King Polixenes, in Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale."

Or at least that's the case when Hermione is embodied by the likes of Beth Mulkerron, whose Hermione combines the youthful innocence and beauty everyone in this play can see with a backbone making clear she's no pushover. | June 13, 2014»Read Full Article

On Fridays I'm posting my thoughts on Lou Reed's solo albums, one album at a time in chronological order of release.

I approached "The Creation of the Universe" (2008) from Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio warily, the way W.C. Fields approached Philadelphia. If listening to a single CD's worth (64 minutes) of the original "Metal Machine Music" was an ordeal (and it was), how much more taxing would auditing nearly 111 minutes of Lou's electronic mayhem be? | June 13, 2014»Read Full Blog Post

Brooklyn, N.Y. — Would you like cream and iniquity with that? A dash of degradation? Or do you take it black?

These are some of the surreal questions that have surfaced in my mind as I've put sugar in my coffee in recent weeks, the aftereffects of experiencing Kara Walker's first public artwork at the Domino Sugar Factory in Brooklyn. | June 13, 2014»Read Full Article(1)

The Best of Brew City is your mobile guide to going out in Milwaukee. Locate events, live music, bars and restaurants near you and in Milwaukee's most popular neighborhoods. Visitbestofbrewcity.com and download the app for iOS or Android today.

Still looking for the perfect (and free) gift for Father's Day? How about taking Dad on the Miller Brewery Tour? Friday and Saturday, the first 96 people to bring Dad on the tour — which is free, remember — receive a $10 Miller Lite beer voucher and two tickets to Miller Park for the Brewers game Sunday against the Reds. Tours start at 10 a.m. both days. | June 13, 2014»Read Full Article

Days this spring have been extraordinarily beautiful, warm and sunny, and patios have been predictably swarmed. Some days, that is. On others, that breeze off the lake has been a brisk reminder that Lake Michigan's temperature is teeth-chatteringly cold — only 44 degrees this week off Milwaukee. | June 13, 2014»Read Full Article